1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rotary electric machines and, more particularly, relates to a rotary electric machine mounted with a power converter.
2. Description of the Related Art
An alternator is a kind of a generator and is a device that converts mechanical kinetic energy transferred from an engine or the like into alternating current (AC) electrical energy. The alternator or the alternator serving also as a starter is mounted with a power converter on its main body. The power converter is equipped with power modules formed by molding a plurality of switching elements with insulating resin (for example, see Patent Document 1). The switching element includes a power transistor, a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), and the like.
Current detectors, each of which detects a phase current flowing through the switching element, are arranged in the power converter. The current detectors detect a plurality of phase currents; and ON/OFF of the switching elements mounted on terminals are performed by pulse width modulation (PWM) control. If this method is adopted for attaining a high output, a space for arranging the current detectors and a heat dissipation structure for cooling the generated heat of the current detectors are needed for the power converter. Joint between the power module and the current detector is made to constitute a circuit.